A group of graduates from Hudson Valley Community College's School of Engineering and Industrial Technologies wore bright green hard hats instead of mortarboards to the College's 58th Commencement ceremony Saturday morning at the Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy. (Jeff Couch / The Record)

TROY -- The words perseverance and resiliency floated around the heads of many Hudson Valley Community College students who graduated Saturday, not because President Dr. Andrew Matonak put them there, but because some of them didn't expect to graduate.

"When I look out at these graduates, I see hopefulness, tenacity and boldness," Matonak said. "Indeed, the speed in which new becomes old is accelerating to a point where it is not clever or astute to say if you're not moving forward then you are falling behind."

Words of encouragement were also offered. "It doesn't matter as long as you did your best," said Conrad Lang, chairman of HVCC's Board of Trustees. "Then you won't be haunted by the ghost of what might have been."

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Hundreds from HVCC's largest graduating class of 2,325 students walked across the stage set up on the baseball field at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium to mark this milestone in their education.

Themba Knowles, who received his Associate in Applied Science Degree in Broadcast Communication with honors, said he had mixed feelings about the day. While he was excited to move on to the next phase of his life with a scholarship to The College of St. Rose in Albany, he was sad to be leaving a school he loves.

"I'm excited about getting to the next institution and doing great things," Knowles said. "Ultimately, I'm trying to perfect my craft."

Knowles' next project will be acting in a movie being filmed in Ballston Lake this summer. He will be starring in "The Fractured" as Grave, an ex-SWAT team member leading a rebellion against invaders of the country.

Alyx Norell never thought she'd be walking across the stage on commencement day, merely seeing her year at HVCC as a stepping stone and transferring to another college. Instead, she opted to stay, and on Saturday, not only received her Associate in Arts Degree in Individual Studies, the State University of New York Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence as well.

"It's such a great community college and it was a great decision to stay here," Norell said. "It's one of the best decisions I ever made."

She said she will be attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute next year.

Student Senate President Chad Coumbes also received the State University of New York Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence. Graduation day met him with both excitement and sadness, as he said he is an example that dropping out doesn't mean you can't come back.

"It's a great achievement to graduate college," said Coumbes, who dropped out of college in 2005. He currently hopes to move onto either Yale University or Cornell University to continue his education. "This proves dropouts can come back and can come back strong."